07-29-2019
05:50 AM
I am an active duty army Colonel. I was traveling out of DCA this morning on official military travel The gate agent for gate 9 (Dca to Orlando) stated military boards after group A. I went up to gate traveling in civilian clothes adhering to the DoD travel policy. Upon attempting to board - the agent said you have to be in uniform to board I said that’s not the DoD policy He said I can’t let you board early. A manager - Robert Brooks for SW pulled me aside and said our policy doesn’t allow us to board military out of uniform. His breath smelled of alcohol. I said DoD policy doesn’t allow us to travel in uniform for security reasons. He said that’s not my problem. I asked if he had been “drinking” and he took a step back and said he had an upset stomach and took another step back. I said you appear to be under the influence of alcohol. And he quickly walked away after I looked at his name tag. Several issues going on here. I’ve read how many service members have gone through this ordeal. It should not matter if you are in uniform or not. SW your policy is out of date and clearly shows you are ok with not changing an outdated policy that. Second - it appeared Robert Brooks was drinking on the job and when I addressed it with him he fled away. We we all have choices to fly. I will not fly southwest again and recommend other active duty members choose another carrier friendly to service members.
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